The present invention relates to a machine for manufacturing continuous cigarette rods simultaneously. Manufacturing machines of the abovementioned type are already known, on which shredded tobacco is fed from an incoming feedbox on to a conveyor belt underneath through a combing unit which unloads the shredded tobacco on to the said conveyor in the form of a continuous, essentially uniform layer. For manufacturing a number of continuous cigarette rods simultaneously on the said known machines, the said continuous layer is fed simultaneously to a number of feed channels through which the tobacco is fed to the same number of out-going conveyors, each for producing one cigarette rod.
On the above known machines, the said continuous layer is usually divided up by sucking it off the conveyor belt and conveying the tobacco by means of an air jet which is divided into a number of secondary jets, one for each feed channel, by fixed or movable separating panels on the said channels.
Consequently, on the above known machines, the layer of tobacco coming off the combing unit is not divided up directly but indirectly by dividing the jet of air lifting the tobacco off the conveyor belt underneath.
Such a procedure obviously poses problems in that, though the said air jet can be divided into a number of preset secondary jets, e.g. all the same, it is not always possible to distribute the tobacco uniformly within the main stream. Consequently, it is not always possible to supply the outgoing belts with preset amounts of tobacco, e.g. exactly equal to each other. What is more, as the said main stream on known machines is divided into secondary streams directly by the separating panels on the said channels, the danger always exists of tobacco shreds overlapping the input edge of the panels, thus affecting the flow of air along the channels and uniform arrangement of the tobacco on the outgoing belts.